Monday, July 3, 2017

Well, CDA 70.3 is done and it was great to go back and re-do
a course from last year.

Going into the day, I really didn’t feel on top of
things.By the numbers, I was in a good
place, with some improvements over last year and consistent training.But somehow, I just didn’t feel nearly as
ready or confident as I did last year, and I knew that would play a big part!

Regardless, race week crept up, and finally Mac and Kyle
were in town for a couple days, before we all headed over to Coeur
d’Alene.It was great to spend some time
all together, and we even stayed at the same house we stayed at in 2015 for my
full!So, that was kinda cool.

One slight wrench in the works was Friday, after arriving in
town and stopping by packet pickup and the expo, I realized I suddenly didn’t
have my wallet!I knew I had it with me
at the expo, and knew that I had been juggling things at the coffee shop on the
walk back to the house, and there I was at the house…with no wallet.

Well, after frantically running up and down Sherman a couple
times, stopping inside every shop and asking if anyone had turned in a wallet,
and sitting on the phone cancelling all my cards, I opened up facebook
messenger to text Mac…and saw I had a pending message request from someone I
didn’t know.I vaguely remembered seeing
some sort of a “request” notification from a name I didn’t recognize, while
running around and trying to text Allen who was also helping me look, but now
that I opened it up… it was the lady who had found my wallet!She looked me up on facebook and messaged me,
saying she had found my wallet and asking how she could return it to me!

We headed over to her house, and I was exceedingly grateful
to get my wallet and ID back.Kind of a
bummer I had already cancelled everything, but it was still really, really good
to have it all back (especially my ID) and know that no one had my information!

Needless to say, that evening’s shakeout run did not
happen.Instead, met up with Doris and
Mac and Kyle we all went to dinner (which took five years, thank you very
much).

The next day was a quick spin, a swim with coach (and Katie
and Mel, who had all just gotten into town), a whole lot of lazing around in
bikinis in the sunshine (and getting sunburnt), and a quick little run.By then it was later in the afternoon and it
was getting really hot, and my stomach didn’t feel good and running just felt
AWFUL.I tried to ignore it, and just
chalked it up to the day.After prepping
everything else and setting an early, 3:45am alarm, it was bedtime!

Race morning quickly arrived, and I quickly had my bagel and
coffee.We made it out the door on time,
at around 4:20am, and walked down together to transition.It was super quick setting up transition, and
we all met up outside, along with Shawn and Laurie (and later joined by
Jenny).Found Doris again, as well as
Devon, who was doing his first 70.3 ever (and ended up finishing 16th
overall, including beating 1/3 of the male pro field, so don’t you go calling
him a rookie).Bathroom breaks (the line
to the real bathroom was shorter than the line to the porta-potties, always),
photos, and wrigging into wetsuits…finally it was time to head down to the
beach!

After pushing and funneling through to the entrance to the
beach, we managed to find Mac and Kyle, which was excellent, and then found
Rebecca as well.Not sure how we always
manage to find each other, in a sea of black neoprene (seriously, everyone
looks IDENTICAL)..but it always works out.

The Pros were off, and soon it was the AG start.With the rolling start, it takes some time to
get everyone into the water, and they seemed to only be letting a small group
of a few athletes at a time—even fewer than last year!I’d say it took around 10-15 minutes (lining
up in the 30-35 min group), but finally we were let into the chute and it was
time to go!

Swim – 38:02 (22 AG)

As always, my swim was woefully underwhelming.Nevertheless, I jumped in and got on Allen’s
feet. This lasted all of 10 seconds, as his feet quickly sped up ahead and I lost
them in the distance.Meh.That was nice while it lasted.

Things were pretty chill, and it was nice to not be fighting
with people the whole time.This further
highlights the question of WHY WAS EVERYONE SWIMMING ON TOP OF ME.Seriously.It’s not that I got hit or smacked, it was just swam on top of.A lot.Like, hello, there’s an entire lake, why are you rubbing shoulders and
why are you now veering into me and now why are you on top of me?!Very odd.

I did feel I swam well, in the sense that it “felt”
good.I felt comfortable in my wetsuit,
and my body was moving the way it should.I was actually gliding, I could feel my extension and reach, and I was
breathing well.That doesn’t mean I swam
fast, it just means that some of these form things I’ve been working on are
starting to stick.Which is good, I
guess.Although I’m ready for them to
start making me faster :)

In any case, before the start we were looking at the buoys
and I thought oh, nice.That doesn’t look too far.It’s actually nice to see it all laid out, it
really makes it seems so close together!The second I got into the water, then glanced up the first time to
sight, that quickly changed.There was
yellow buoy after yellow buoy after yellow buoy.The line of yellow buoys disappeared into the
horizon, with no red turn buoy in sight.Sigh.

So I started counting buoys, saw they started at 8 and were
counting down.I started to veer off
course, I started to correct it.So many
people were swimming inside the buoy line that there was actually a lot of
space on the outside, too.I spent a lot
of time thinking about how it felt like it was taking a really long time…but I
did, finally, make it to the turn buoy.Hooray!

Turn buoys are always messy, and this was no exception.Once we turned it was straight into the
sunshine, so I just tried to kinda follow people, and look to the sides a
lot.Suddenly, there was a girl in a
Roka wetsuit next to me, and one breath, as I turned and looked—I recognize those earrings. THAT’S MAC!It’s insane to me that we actually saw each
other in the swim, because usually it feels like once you get into the water
it’s this mass of water and humans and wetsuits and no one knows what’s going
on and it’s all a mystery until you get out of the water and suddenly you
recognize your life again…but it was Mac!

So, that as cool.

We kinda lost each other again, but then it was time to turn
again and head back to the shore, thank
goodness, FINALLY…And thus began my demonstration of How Not to Swim Back
to Shore on the CDA Swim Course.

Ok, so I’ve swam that course 4 times in the last 3
years.(2 laps for the full in 2015, 1
lap for the half in 2016, 1 lap this time.)You’d think by now I’d know how to swim back in but I cannot for the
LIFE of me swim back to the swim out without veering wildly off course to the
right.

My going theory is that with the sun rising over Tubbs hill
and the resort, it seems like you should be able to sight off your right
shoulder and swim parallel but IT’S NOT.I spent the entire time feeling like I was swimming to the left, then
looking up and realizing I was pointed 30 degrees to the right of where I
needed to go.

So that was annoying, and maybe someday I’ll learn, but just
not in 2017.

I went back to counting buoys, and was immensely bored
because swimming is just really boring,
man.

But at long last, I finally reached the very last buoy, and
started hearing the deafening cheers from the crowd on shore.My absolute favorite part!LIFE outside the swim.Life—and now it’s time to BIKE!!!

As I got nearer to shore, I swam up to a guy in a Roka.Hah, so
funny I saw Mac.Wouldn’t it be funny if
I saw Kyle?I wonder where he is?!I swam past this guy, and tried to get a good
look, but as mentioned previously—everyone really looks the same in a wetsuit,
doubly so when you’re actually swimming and you only get a half-submerged view
of them every 10 seconds while you’re really just trying to take a breath of
air.But now I was next to another guy,
and as we both took a breath, THAT IS
KYLE!I recognized the goggles,
which I have never seen anyone else wear, and I was 99.9% positive it was him.

Anyway, that gave me enough incentive to give it one last
push for the last few meters back to shore.There’s the ground.There’s the ground.Almost…. And UP!

Scrambling up out of the water is literally my favorite part
of the swim, and as I lapped my garmin (38
minutes, meh, sounds like a normal slow Rosanne swim), it was time to leave
that behind and focus on the fun stuff.

T1 – 2:46

Trying to carefully take my wetsuit sleeve off over my
Garmin (hard to do, especially while trying to run and watch where I’m going,
apparently), and I realized there were wetsuit strippers!Was not expecting that.Sure I don’t need it, but it sure is nice! I
ran to the end, they were patient as I finally got my sleeve over my watch (“oh
yeah, careful, don’t hurt anything!”) and that sucker was off in an
instant.Maybe that’s why I like wetsuit
strippers—the sooner that thing is off (no more swimming!), the better!

Trotted back to transition, and was very happy that the
in/out was swapped this year!Everything
flowed soooo much better, and I was able to run straight down the side along
the edges, down to my bike.

Seemed to take forever to get my shoes on, but I had a
pretty good, quick time.Helmet on, bike
garmin on, shoes on, GO!

Trotted around and down a curb (?) but finally the mount
line was there and with very graceful plop on the bike (read: very not
graceful) I was off!

Bike – 2:49:25 (6 AG)

OK.On the bike.Finally where I feel like I belong.

Right at the bike out, I heard a shout, and knew it was
Monica!She had mentioned trying to be
there by the end of the swim, so yay!Also
got a huge “go Wattie!!!!” cheer from someone wearing a HIT squad t-shirt,
right as I was starting, so that was pretty cool too :) I kept my eyes peeled
for the rest of the Inertia Performance group, but didn’t see them… Figured
they must still be at the swim out (and I must have missed them) somewhere.

Anyway, started weaving through town, and shaking things
out.The first miles are always odd—turns
and neighborhoods, and everyone is still trying to figure out how to pace etc
so there was a lot of going back and forth with people.An official on a motorcycle hung out with me
for a bit, and so – as always – I tried to off-set where I was riding and not
get too close, although it’s always hard to do RIGHT at the beginning of the
bike!

I started seeing straggling pro men, and the lead pro women,
coming back towards me.I kept my eyes
peeled, and spotted Alycia!I think I
yelled at her.In any case, I realized
that meant it was time to keep watch for Kyle.I wasn’t exactly sure where he was. I wasn’t positive that had been him in the
water, and even if it was, I wasn’t sure if he would be ahead or behind me by
the time we were out of transition.I
did spot Doris climbing back up near Bennet Bay hill, and my math to the
turn-around told me she was 6 minutes ahead.

Suddenly, I saw a patriot kit with white helmet whiz past
me, going the opposite direction, before I had time to really register it.Without time to get a better look, I tried to
remember what Kyle had settled on wearing, since he had gone back and forth
over the last few days.I also saw
Allen, and was happy he was ahead meaning he must have had an awesome swim!

As I approached the turn-around I started scanning for Kyle,
and when I didn’t see him on my tail, I figured the Patriot kit I saw must have
been him.

OK, so he’s just ahead
of you; just keep it steady and it’ll all settle down and shake itself out once
we hit 95.

I saw Mac, we waved, and I put my head down to get back into
town.

When suddenly, approaching the golf course, I heard a “well,
look who turned into a swimmer!” as Kyle pedaled past me.

I laughed, because I’m definitelynot a swimmer and a 38 minute swim does not
qualify as turning into one, but hey, now I knew exactly where he was! ;)
Although I was then a little annoyed, because I would have pushed a little more
had I known he was right behind me (I must have just missed him), rather than
settling in and getting ready for the longer climbs of highway 95.Oh well.

We yo-yo’ed a couple times, before he pulled away a
bit.I kept him in sight, ish, but didn’t
worry about catching him yet. As we turned back into town, I was slightly
annoyed that this now meant that I was ahead of him out of the swim, but now
already everyone would see him coming back in first..but, no matter.

I love love love
the sprint down Lakeside Ave, as it’s about 6 blocks of straight, slightly
downhill road with all of the crowds on either side screaming at you.I heard Monica shouting for me, then a few
blocks later there was an absolute roar erupting from the sidewalk, and I saw everyone
decked out in their Inertia Performance sweatshirts, as they all jumped up and
down and generally gave me way more enthusiasm than I probably deserved :)
Totally made me smile, and definitely fueled me!

I turned the corner, and knew it was about time to really
start this race.Another few blocks to
go, and we’d be turning on 95 and it would be time to put in the work.

Going over the bridge was easy-peasy, no wind to worry
about.Crossed the bridge, and—Whaaaaaat, what is this?!?!

I did a double-take.The road… had been re-paved.

The road had been re-paved, starting after the bridge, and
it was the most magical repaved road you
have ever seen.I think I actually
laughed out loud, in sheer delight.I
kept looking ahead, thinking it was just a patch, but no, it stretched for a
few miles and it was honestly one of the most fun sections of road I’ve ever
ridden on. Smooth like butter and so, so, SO fast.Like, we’re talking 95W and 25mph on a slight
incline, FAST.Of course, road like that just makes you WANT
to ride harder and faster and more aggressively, so I took that momentum while
I had it and had so much fun in the process.I know everyone else was doing the same, so it’s not like I was gaining
much, but MAN it was fun.

I was sad when that glorious road ended, and it was back to
normal highway ‘meh,’ but that also meant it was time to start climbing.Bring it, Mica.

The best thing (ok, ONE OF the best things) about the CDA
course is that I’ve now ridden it in training, in the full Ironman, and in the
previous years’ 70.3, which means I have layer and layers of memories
associated with various portions of the course.There’s a little driveway before hitting the beginning of Mica which
will forever be That Place I Stopped to Get my Chain Back On for the First Time
during Ironman, which is also, Last Year When I Remembered This Spot.Luckily, no repeat of chain issues, still
(knock on wood) and I happily began the ascent.

Off in the distance, I recognized a HIT squad kit, with what
looked like a yellow helmet.That was
good—someone easily identifiable to chase and catch, plus then I could see who
it was.I also spotted Kyle, who was
making his way to the HIT squad kit, although it looked like he would catch up
first.Good.Carrots.

I climbed, I ate, I watched my power numbers (more out of
curiosity than anything, and was satisfied seeing they seemed steadily higher
than last year).I kept my head up and
focused on whether I was gaining on Kyle enough, and if I would catch him
before the top.HIT squad kit was getting
closer.Focus, Rosanne!

I got closer, knew I was catching up to Kyle, looked back to
the yellow helmet… and it suddenly hit me that it was Allen!!I have no idea how it didn’t register
before.I think because I had seen him
previously, I forgot I still needed to pass him ;) and for some reason I just
didn’t even put it together.

In any case, as soon as I realized it was him, I pushed just
a tad harder, to make sure I could catch up quickly.I did, we chatted briefly, and I set off to
go catch Kyle, who at this point was getting closer and closer.I could see the top of the main part of the
ascent coming, but I figured by now I should be able to reach him before he
reached the top.

Like the jerk that I am, I snuck up on him and said “hey,
nice mountain goat tattoo” (…since obviously mountain goats are good at
climbing…and I’m a jerk like that…) and kept going.I knew I could get time on him going uphill,
but there was no way I could keep up on the downs, so I just tried to get as
much as I could.Since we were nearing
the top, I knew there wouldn’t be much time, but at this point it was more
about getting back up there and reminding him I was still there and chasing.

As expected, he quickly caught and passed me as the road
flattened out.Actually, to clarify,
what really happened is that I quickly felt a shoulder ride up and lean up
alongside me, as he intentionally grazed me and made some smart-alek comment ;)
You know you have a friend out there, when they know they can sneak up from
behind and push you sideways, while you’re both in aero, and no on freaks out
and crashes.Who said triathletes don’t
have bike handling skills?

For the next 10 or so miles, we passed each other back and forth—I’d
take the lead on the climbs, he’d fly past me downhill (or on the flats), but
at least I kept him in sight.I did,
however, realize that this was rapidly going to turn into a foot race, since we
were both riding relatively equally, and we would likely come in to T2 within a
couple minutes of each other at this rate.

Back and forth, I did notice him soft-pedalling at times,
and he mentioned something about his leg.Again, like the jerk that I am, I continued to crack jokes about him
being a slow old man (which I think some other people heard, and hopefully they
could tell I was joking?).Back and forth.At least it kept me engaged!

Coming over another bridge as we got closer to the turn-around,
the wind picked up, and it picked up QUICK.I swear, one side of the bridge was perfectly wind-free, then halfway
through it started gusting like crazy.A
huge crosswind came through and grabbed my wheel, causing me to swerve and
teeter precariously.Shaken, I made it
to the other side of the bridge into the relative safety of the highway, but
from that point forward, I could feel the wind around me.

Some guy asked if we were almost to the turnaround, and I
told him “yup, it’s coming up!”Though
really, I’m not sure what else he expected me to say.No?And
what qualifies as “almost to the turnaround?”And what difference does it make?And it’s going to be 56 miles so…the turnaround will come when it comes?

Anyway.As I sat there
contemplating the turnaround location, which I knew was somewhere up ahead—at the
top of this hill; oh no, maybe the next hill; oh yeah, I forgot about this one,
must be the next… – I saw Doris coming back towards me.I had seen a few others at this point (Alycia
again, and Devon) but as I made it to the blessed turnaround, I calculated she
had 4 minutes on me.So, I was gaining,
but not by much, and I likely wouldn’t catch her on the bike.

Saw Kyle coming up to the turnaround, pretty hot on my
tail.I knew there was some downhill,
and expected him to come rushing past me at any moment.Saw Mac, Allen and even Rebecca (although I
don’t remember what order or even where, exactly), and tried to amuse myself by
watching the stream of athletes.

Although this time, I was a bit more distracted, because the
swirling wind was still pushing me around.I reached the bridge where it had hit me 20 minutes earlier, braced for the
side winds, and waiting for the winds to drop as I continued on… but, no such
luck.It was time to accept that the
winds of the day were picking up, and there was nothing to do other than stay
in aero and try to slice through.

Last year, there was a very slight headwind heading back to
T2.This year, it was a legit headwind,
and I dejectedly saw my speed dropping, and suddenly that 2:40 split was
slipping away.

I wish I could say I stayed strong out there, but I always
seem to break around the 40-ish mile point.Maybe I need to fuel more, or maybe I just need to suck it up and be
prepared to fight through it, but I was tired.I was tired, and my watts were low, and I just wasn’t inspired to push
it anymore.Suddenly, I was being passed
right and left (ok, passed on the left, but it sounds better to say ‘right and
left’) and I could not for the life of me motivate myself to lay down a
chase.My back and shoulders were
really, really aching, and the wind was only making me more dejected.

Hmph.These races are the worst.

I pushed on, less enthusiastically than I should, but at
last I saw Mica up ahead.I didn’t
fully get a second wind, but I was much more motivated once I got there because
you really are getting close—it’s just a big climb, a biiiiiiig descent, then a
few rollers and turns before getting back into town.Inspired by this, I booked it down the last
descent before the climb, aiming to get as much momentum as I could.

As I started up Mica, another lady rolled up alongside
me.“You are a BEAST!” she gushed.“Nice work!!”

I smiled, said thanks..but wondered how much of a beast I was
if she was passing me uphill…Although I’d
be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little proud, since it meant my descents
were getting much better, and my more aggressive riding was paying off (even
dejectedly, I could still fake it, I guess).

Plus, it’s a long enough climb that eventually I caught back
up to her, passed her (as she again said something nice about “go catch those
boys!”), and was ready to take on the last few hurdles of the bike course.

First up: the huge descent down Mica.They had new signs up in a few areas, specifying
no passing (I think those were there before, but there were more this time),
and “no aero bars” (which I had never seen before).Not like you have to tell me twice; I could
never stay in aero down that descent to save my life (well, technically
speaking, I get OUT of aero to save my life, because I’m pretty sure I’d die if
I tried to stay down on the bars.But, I
digress.)

Anyway, I tried to not ride my brakes but MAN that descent
creeps me out.My feeling of improvement
kind of disappeared after this, but whatever.I let a couple people by (sorry for being slow!) but thankfully I made
it down.

Time to get these last little pitches done and over with—and
was rewarded with that silky smooth pavement once more!SCORE.I had totally forgotten about that.Zipped along, up down, around the turn (which I now had to brake on,
since I carried way too much speed, thanks to that pavement!) and over the bridge.

Back into town.I
glared down at my Garmin, showing I was already over 2:45 (which was last years’
time).Stupid wind!Pedal pedal, I
was looking forward to the cheers and the enthusiasm of the crowds, knowing I was
about to rely on them for the run. I sadly did not see anyone I recognized, but
figured I’d see them soon enough on the run.

A slightly different turn back into transition, and the dismount
line really crept up on me.Some chick
in my age group passed me right as we rolled up to it, what the heck!Quick brake, hop off the bike, and scamper
off into transition.

T2 – 1:46

I haphazardly ran through the pro racks, noting how disheveled
things looked.It’s so funny how
pre-race, everyone’s stuff is laid out so neat and precisely…but mid-race you
see half the bikes there, half of them gone, shoes and helmets and wetsuits
everywhere.

In any case, I got back to my rack and saw the two girls on
either side were already back (no surprises there).One girl had even conveniently racked her
bike at a 45 degree angle sideways in my spot, so that her front wheel was
literally on top of my running shoes and it was very much impossible to get my
bike racked.I unceremoniously shoved
her bike over (although I was admittedly gentler than she deserved, but I mean,
bike), racked, and actually for once took my helmet off first?!

I think because of the new helmet with the flip up sunglasses
shield, it makes things easier to take off vs like usual, when I leave my
helmet on.Are the days of wondering if I’ll
get onto the run course with my helmet still on over?

New Xtenex so nice.After 8 months of not having them on, it was soooooo nice to slide on my
shoes and GO.I shoved a gel into my
pocket and clipped my number on as I ran, and bolted out of there.

Run – 1:42:02 (8 AG)

Luckily, they seemed to have learned since last year, and not
only made the run start a lot more obvious (I knew when to lap my garmin this
time, yay!) but also didn’t flow quite so strangely.Well, that’s lie, it definitely was an odd
flow of looping around a parking lot and through crosswalks to get to the park,
but it was different than last year and maybe it was just marked more clearly
and felt like an actual course—not like just running on a sidewalk and hoping
you’d find the course.

This always feels phenomenally slow and phenomenally
difficult, especially since there is the tiiiiiniest littlee incline.Of course, I glanced down and saw 6:15 so I tried
not to think about it and just calm the heck down, and figure out what I was
doing.For the number of triathlons I’ve
done, you’d really think I would know that when you get off the bike it feels
all ‘off’ and you just need to CALM DOWN.But, no.I think biking leaves
you in this state of general fogginess, and the legs just go into auto-pilot
overdrive trying to FIGURE. IT. OUT.

Anyway.Turned into the
park, and immediately heard wild cheers, and looked up to see Ellen!I was impressed she even recognized me in my disheveled
stated, but was so happy to hear friendly cheers!I turned and saw some sign that had something
to do with Christmas, and what is going on, suddenly I was in the BEST AID
STATION EVER!It was Christmas-themed,
and everyone was wearing Christmas elf costumes and basically it really gave me
the smack in the head I needed (figurative, not literal) to try to get into the
Run mindset.

Weaving through the park, I looked for people I knew.Monica appeared, as always, which was just
what I needed.She yelled really earnestly
about how I looked “so skinny!” which totally made me laugh!

Rounding the corner, through the streets and down through
the aid station, I was still trying to figure out exactly how I felt.My legs were coming around and I was trying to
settle down, when suddenly I saw a guy running at me and realized it was, of course,
my coach!Shawn had a huge grin on his
face, ran through the entire station straight at me, yelled “Alright, time to
WORK!!!!” and gave me the biggest high five as we crossed paths.

Alright Rosanne… time
to work.

I wasn’t sure if I could really feel it; wasn’t sure if I
had that ‘time to work’ mentality going, but I tried.About halfway down Lakeshore Dr, I saw Katie
and yelled at her asking if she wanted to run for me… of course, she took that
as an invitation to run with me,
which of course was great, but not quite the same as trading places and letting
her run in my place ;)We ran and she
chatted and said she’d run the next half mile or so with me to find Mel on the
course.

But I could distinctly tell that I was not “working."

It just wasn’t there.Somehow, that spark and push wasn’t there and my stride was just a
little too tight.I knew it wasn’t going
to happen.

Meanwhile, Katie was talking and telling me I was looking good,
and exclaimed “you’re running so fast!”Of course, she said this right as we were coming up behind some other
guy, who turned, and quickly laughed, saying “oh, I thought you were talking to
me!!I was going to say thank you!”We assured him he was also running quite well,
and I was happy at least she thought I was fast, though I was already seeing
7:40 with no sign of improvement. I tried to push it and keep it going but
those 7:20s were just not coming to me, and if they weren’t coming to me now, a
mile and a half in (enough of warm up, but not tired yet), there was no way it
was going to get any faster.

Mel was up ahead, and Katie dropped off and doubled back, as
Mel yelled encouragement as I passed.Through
the neighborhoods, always hoping to settle deeper into my groove of working hard.Don’t get me wrong, I was working—but it wasn’t
that settled-in, pushing the pace kind of work.It was more of a “ugh, but I’m tired and just wanna take a nap, I don’t
wanna move any faster” kind of work, which is really not the kind of work you
want to be doing in a race.

I started wondering where Kyle was.All I could really do was keep going, and see
at the turn-around if I could find him.My only thought was that the hills plus the wind was enough to wear him
down, so hopefully I had enough of a lead that my run would survive.Unfortunately, not even that really got my
pace to improve.

Nevertheless, I kept trying, and I did get a few comments as
I passed guys who were taking up the ENTIRE space in the road.I started seeing the female pros coming back
in, and started looking for Alycia.I
saw Devon, and we waved and as always, the familiar faces help perk you up—the best
part of this run course is that you are basically just doing huge
out-and-backs, so you see everyone on course the entire time.Finally saw Alycia, yelled at her to PICK IT
UP, and then tried to tell myself to pick it up, too.

First turn around was coming up.I saw Doris!Now only about 2 minutes ahead. I
made it my goal to try to catch her, mostly to trick myself into running faster
(spoiler: it didn’t work).I ran back up
past the aid station, and someone yelled “OH hi Rosanne!!!” and I was thrilled
to see it was Jessie, who I didn’t know (or likely just didn’t remember) would be
there.I saw Carly, who I had passed
earlier, and we exchanged cheers and high fives whenever we saw each
other.I saw Rebecca and her orange ice
cream hat; I saw Robin at some point.So, at least I was soaking in the excitement of finding people.

But still, I just didn’t feel like I was really running.

As I wound back into the neighborhood, I saw Mac… She held
her hand out for a high-five, and yelled out “Kyle collapsed off the bike, he’s
in the med tent now!”

The high five was great, but that news was not.I’ve known Kyle long enough by now to know what
that means, and the fact that Mac was still running (and not in the med tent
with him) was encouraging, but I was sad to hear he was no longer in it.I was selfishly bummed that it meant I didn’t
get to race him, too.I ran along
wondering if he was really ok, and not really knowing what the deal was, but
comforted by the fact that he had at least made it safely to the med tent.

Thankfully, Mel was up ahead, and I ran at her with my hands
in the air and mouthing “Mac said- ” to which she yelled “he got his nitro, he is
stable, Katie is with him!” which was just enough for me know that things were
at least ok for now and Katie could keep things under control.As bummed as I was, there was nothing me
worrying about it would do, and the best I could do was just finish this thing.

Run back through the rest of the neighborhoods, aid station
and towards the park was relatively boring.I knew the park would help amp me up a bit again, and was looking
forward to some friendly faces. As I
rounded a corner, I totally missed Monica—and apparently she did too, because I
heard a “OH, Rosanne! YOU RAN RIGHT PAST ME HEY!”

I was passed by another female pro, and jealously watched
her cross to the “To Finish” lane, while I ducked into the “2nd Lap”
Lane… I was not feeling awesome, but just as I was about to run under
the overpass, I heard my name as Ellen was enthusiastically cheering for me,
which again forced me to smile and wave, happy for the support.I hit the sidewalk with the Christmas Aid
Station up ahead, and merged traffic with everyone else just starting their
first lap.Ohhhhh boy.

This is not to say anything bad about those people, other
than the fact that suddenly the path was a LOT more crowded, and they were also
still in the dazed state I had been in 6.5 miles ago, where nothing makes sense
and you’re left wondering how to put one foot in front of the other (and also
why, exactly, you’re doing this).

But I weaved through, and managed to get out of the
park.I was a little sad not to see
Laurie or anyone else, though at this point I was mostly wondering how I was
going to get through another entire lap of this with my times still seriously
slipping.

Somehow, there was nothing truly noteworthy about this
lap.I think I blocked it out.All I know is I did NOT want to run, I felt
like I couldn’t run, and try as I might to get my legs to move faster and push
it a bit, I just…couldn’t.

I continued seeing people.I saw Allen once or twice more.Mac
yelled at me and told me in her sternest teacher voice to go catch Doris, but
unfortunately I’m like the disappointing little kid because that never
happened.I broke down and tried some
coke (which also meant stopping to walk a few steps, which I haaaate) at
probably 3 aid stations, but I’m not sure it helped..plus it just annoys me
that I slow down.I think it’s really an
excuse to walk, though; I should stop that.

I tried, I tried, I was exceedingly frustrated that this run
was NOT going according to plan and I did NOT feel like a very good athlete at
all, but at long lost I finished the out-and-back, headed back, and found
myself running up the last few blocks towards the hill.Someone sprayed me with the water (which felt
AMAZINGGGGG) and as I emerged from this glorious, heavenly bath of water, I saw
Shawn and Laurie and Gentry (and probably more people but it was a little hazy
at that point) standing on the corner all yelling and screaming at me.Man do those guys know how to make me feel
less lame about myself!

I turned into the park, and immediately heard my name, and
saw Jennie running at me!!!I was so
excited to see her on the run course, and really happy to see that she looked so
happy as well (although I did not envy that she was starting out and was going
to have to deal with the rapidly increasing temperature)!

Thankfully, just like last year, the energy of the crowds
through the park really does carry you, and I soaked up every bit of it.Happily crossing over the overpass this time,
I once again saw Ellen and was super happy to give one last wave.And of course, as I ran up past Vault, there
was Monica, yelling and cheering, and also pointing out the glitter in the
street, which she had obviously put out just for me.In hindsight, I’m really not sure what the
glitter thing was about, but I did briefly register the glitter and it totally
made me laugh (and took my mind off the fact I still had like 5 too many blocks
to run), so it was appreciated none the less.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again—there is nothing like
a Coeur d’Alene finish line.Even with a
shorter run down Sherman than for the 2015 full, those last few blocks are
utterly fantastic.The glittering lake
below, red ironman carpet an finish line welcoming you, as the streets are
lined with people watching and cheering.I’m pretty bummed that this is the last year they are doing the full,
and I will 100% admit that as I hit that red carpet, I caught myself choking up
thinking about crossing that line 2 years ago.But, no time for that now, happy face and be glad Rosanne, because now
you are DONE!

Total: 5:14:01

Post-race, Doris was at the finish line still waiting (overall time, she beat me by like 9 seconds and got a PR! Awesome!), so we
hung out, chatted with others, and waited for Allen and Mac (and various other
people we knew) to finish, which was actually a lot of fun (minus the part
where it suddenly felt really hot.How
is it that it doesn’t feel nearly as hot when you’re running??).We just tried to move around and stay out of
the way before anyone noticed we were loitering, and it was super fun watching people
finish.I managed to steer Allen to get
his medal from Andy Potts, and we got to get a giant finisher photo all
together :)

So how was this race?Oh, I don’t know.I’m not really
sure how to answer.Time-wise, it’s my 3rd
best finish, and lumped together in the group of my “best” times (5:08 at
Troika which I think had a short swim; 5:11 at CDA last year; and 5:14 at CDA
this year).

My swim was kind of a standard, run-of-the-mill swim time,
so as always, I just need to learn how to swim.

My bike time was 4 minutes slower than last year, which is
infinitely annoying.But, looking at the
data, I also averaged a substantially higher average power number, AND slightly
lower average heart rate, which tells me I was putting out more power for the
same (or little less) effort…which also tells me that wind played a real role
in it.So, I think I did “ride better”
even if it didn’t end up being faster.

Interestingly, my run was only 9 seconds slower than last year.9 seconds total.But last year, I felt like that run was a
huge win; so why did it feel like such a failure this year?I think it’s really just how it felt.Heart rate was lower this year too, so I know
I didn’t push it as much and it validates how I felt on the run.Not sure why, but it just wasn’t quiet there.All told, I guess I should be happy that it
was still about the same, despite all that!

I’m also a bit bummed to “only” place 8th, mostly
because I wanted to feel a bit more redeemed at going to Worlds this September,
but those other girls put on a heck of a race, and all it can do is fuel me to
get better.Nothing but respect for
them!

So, it was good.There was nothing terribly awful, no huge thing I need to fix.Not every race is a PR, and I’m happy that my
“normal, meh” days look like this!